Yangon!
Hello Everyone!
It is my 6th day in Yangon and my constant companion is heat and moisture. When people who knew better told me that Burma is hotter than Taiwan, I thought, no... I can handle it. Well, they were right and I am sadly, sweatily wrong. Up until now, prickly heat had just been an intriguing ailment to me. Now, I know what it means to be pricked by heat. You'd think that as a person born in a sub-tropical region, I would be better adapted to this climate. Seattle has spoiled me.
Anyhow, it took a little longer in Bangkok than I had hoped but I was able to get my visa and as those of you who read my blog know, I had palatial accommodations at no cost. So far, I would say that my journey to Burma must be fated if not blessed because I have had so much help already! Just this morning, a Sino-Burmese man I hardly know offered to help me find an apartment and everyone has been extremely concerned about me being taken as a foreigner. Although I definitely confuse people, they can tell that I'm not a local. Apparently, there are plenty of Chinese and Taiwanese business people here so I am usually perceived of as one of those. I haven't met any yet though. There is a couple behind me who definitely have Taiwanese accents but I don't know them yet.
I arrived Monday afternoon and was kindly met by Pat and John. They saved me because without my permission a so called porter wearing an official badge helped me take my very heavy luggage off the conveyor belt. He then asked for my customs form and although I marked “nothing to declare” indicated by the color green, he took me to the red line. That made me very uneasy because I didn’t want any problems. Luckily, the customs officer just asked me to open my carry on bag and when I told him that I was carrying a computer, he said “laptop lah?” then pointed to by two gigantic suitcases saying “All that clothes.” Being my naïve self, I replied, “books” which seems equally innocuous to him and he waved me past. I have an aversion of being perceived as your typical woman who travels with way too much clothes. ;p So, back to the porter. As soon as we passed customs, the porter asked for money to which I replied, “I don’t have any kyat.” He gave me a dirty look and asked for US dollars. I didn’t have any small bills so he stood right by me until Pat and John showed up. So, John paid him for me and off we went in the mid-day heat. Pat had offered to host me at his place until I found an apartment but unfortunately, he has no water. So he sent me to the May Shan (Mei(Plum) Xian(County)) Guest House near the Sule Pagoda where John Okell had just checked out. It is run by Chinese people so they immediately asked me where I was from and we had some friendly conversations in Mandarin. What is more interesting is, in the shops and restaurants run by Chinese (inclusive of Yangon Sino-Burmese, Shan (with some mixed backgrounds of Yunnanese and Shan), everyone has asked me if I am Chinese and whether I can speak Mandarin. Those questions are followed by questions about why I'm in Burma,why I would want to study Burmese, etc.
The most interesting thing by far is my experience this morning. I moved to the Golden City Hotel on Thursday after having lunch with Khet Khet, Sandi, and their mother. They were very kind and negotiated a lower price for me, $10 per night, $5 less than the May Shan. Anyhow, the owner of the hotel invited me to join him for morning exercises at the Kandawgyi Lake (a little repetitive because "kan" means lake in Burmese which is like saying Sierra Madre mountains). I agreed to go with him at 5:30am because he was so friendly and I figured it would be a great way to see a slice of Yangon that I would not ususally see on my own. This morning, he drove me along with his wife, daughter, sister, and niece to the lake. When we got there, there were at least 400 people on a platform next to the lake looking towards Shwedagon Pagoda doing calisthenics to music.
What struck me first was the number of people moving in unison. What struck me next was the beauty of the setting. There are two huge fountains shooting water up framing the Shwedagon with the blue misty morning highlighting the gleaming golden pagoda. What struck me after that was, the instructions were in Mandarin! It was hard to decipher at first because the audio system is so pathetic but it turned out that a shrill Chinese voice was counting out - yi (one), er (two), san (three) as everyone moved through a combination of modified Taichi and wushu (called Kungfu in the US). It was just like any scene in any large park in China with young and old doing exercises to bad modernized traditional Chinese music. The owner’s wife found me a place and I joined the crowd in doing Taichi that would make anyone who knows Taichi cringe. About 10 demonstrators stood in the front and moved their bodies in awkward ways with no sense of proper alignment of qi. The shrill voice said “xi (inhale)” and “hu (exhale)” in a way that felt counter intuitive to me – we inhaled as we bent forward and exhaled as we expanded or reached up – but maybe Taichi breathing is the opposite of yogic breathing. Who knows. Anyhow, after the Taichi-Wushu, the owner waved me next to him and asked me, “Are you happy?” in Burmese to which I responded in Burmese, “Yes. This is very interesting because the voice is speaking Mandarin and I can understand her.” He was surprised by this because he didn’t realize I am Chinese and then asked me if am I from Fujian. I said yes which made him smile and ask me if I can speak Hokkien (aka Minnan, Taiwanese). I said yes which made him smile even more and say, “We are the same people” in Hokkien. The next round of exercises started and the whole time he told other Chinese around him that I am Chinese and can speak Mandarin, Hokkien, English, and Burmese. To which, several people asked me where I am from and smiled at me.
After about 1 hour of very mild exercise and the most un-rhythmic line dancing with everyone going every which way while telling others, “No no no, go left, go right, xie-xie (which sounded at first like thank you in Mandarin but I believe they were trying to say “sachay” (sp?) a French word often used in dance indicating a scooting-like movement)” we all moved onto mats to do what turned out to be a loose rendition of yoga. My host had no idea I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for more than 1 year so he was surprised that I could do everything and everyone around took notice. Well, either, they noticed I could do yoga with ease or they watched me because my host continued to tell everyone I am Chinese and can speak many languages. Anyhow, I was very much on display but it was fine. The exercise teacher, an elderly Chinese man of Xiamen descent kept coming over to adjust me but was a little bit nonplussed by the fact that I could bend or contort as he indicated. Afterall, everyone around me was at least 10 years older (there were only a few other young or younger people) so he shouldn’t have been surprised. The most fun/comical part was when we had to do a back bend. A lady of at least 50 went up to demonstrate. She struggled a little but when she got up into a back bend, everyone clapped. It was very sweet. Then, when another person got up, everyone clapped again. Then, I moved into a back bend and everyone clapped.
I’m running out of time because I have some appointments to see apartments but I think you get the idea. I am having no problem meeting Chinese people and already two have said that the Wang, Lin, and Hu are the same family from Fujian so we are “our people”.
More later!
jayde
Hello Everyone!
It is my 6th day in Yangon and my constant companion is heat and moisture. When people who knew better told me that Burma is hotter than Taiwan, I thought, no... I can handle it. Well, they were right and I am sadly, sweatily wrong. Up until now, prickly heat had just been an intriguing ailment to me. Now, I know what it means to be pricked by heat. You'd think that as a person born in a sub-tropical region, I would be better adapted to this climate. Seattle has spoiled me.
Anyhow, it took a little longer in Bangkok than I had hoped but I was able to get my visa and as those of you who read my blog know, I had palatial accommodations at no cost. So far, I would say that my journey to Burma must be fated if not blessed because I have had so much help already! Just this morning, a Sino-Burmese man I hardly know offered to help me find an apartment and everyone has been extremely concerned about me being taken as a foreigner. Although I definitely confuse people, they can tell that I'm not a local. Apparently, there are plenty of Chinese and Taiwanese business people here so I am usually perceived of as one of those. I haven't met any yet though. There is a couple behind me who definitely have Taiwanese accents but I don't know them yet.
I arrived Monday afternoon and was kindly met by Pat and John. They saved me because without my permission a so called porter wearing an official badge helped me take my very heavy luggage off the conveyor belt. He then asked for my customs form and although I marked “nothing to declare” indicated by the color green, he took me to the red line. That made me very uneasy because I didn’t want any problems. Luckily, the customs officer just asked me to open my carry on bag and when I told him that I was carrying a computer, he said “laptop lah?” then pointed to by two gigantic suitcases saying “All that clothes.” Being my naïve self, I replied, “books” which seems equally innocuous to him and he waved me past. I have an aversion of being perceived as your typical woman who travels with way too much clothes. ;p So, back to the porter. As soon as we passed customs, the porter asked for money to which I replied, “I don’t have any kyat.” He gave me a dirty look and asked for US dollars. I didn’t have any small bills so he stood right by me until Pat and John showed up. So, John paid him for me and off we went in the mid-day heat. Pat had offered to host me at his place until I found an apartment but unfortunately, he has no water. So he sent me to the May Shan (Mei(Plum) Xian(County)) Guest House near the Sule Pagoda where John Okell had just checked out. It is run by Chinese people so they immediately asked me where I was from and we had some friendly conversations in Mandarin. What is more interesting is, in the shops and restaurants run by Chinese (inclusive of Yangon Sino-Burmese, Shan (with some mixed backgrounds of Yunnanese and Shan), everyone has asked me if I am Chinese and whether I can speak Mandarin. Those questions are followed by questions about why I'm in Burma,why I would want to study Burmese, etc.
The most interesting thing by far is my experience this morning. I moved to the Golden City Hotel on Thursday after having lunch with Khet Khet, Sandi, and their mother. They were very kind and negotiated a lower price for me, $10 per night, $5 less than the May Shan. Anyhow, the owner of the hotel invited me to join him for morning exercises at the Kandawgyi Lake (a little repetitive because "kan" means lake in Burmese which is like saying Sierra Madre mountains). I agreed to go with him at 5:30am because he was so friendly and I figured it would be a great way to see a slice of Yangon that I would not ususally see on my own. This morning, he drove me along with his wife, daughter, sister, and niece to the lake. When we got there, there were at least 400 people on a platform next to the lake looking towards Shwedagon Pagoda doing calisthenics to music.
What struck me first was the number of people moving in unison. What struck me next was the beauty of the setting. There are two huge fountains shooting water up framing the Shwedagon with the blue misty morning highlighting the gleaming golden pagoda. What struck me after that was, the instructions were in Mandarin! It was hard to decipher at first because the audio system is so pathetic but it turned out that a shrill Chinese voice was counting out - yi (one), er (two), san (three) as everyone moved through a combination of modified Taichi and wushu (called Kungfu in the US). It was just like any scene in any large park in China with young and old doing exercises to bad modernized traditional Chinese music. The owner’s wife found me a place and I joined the crowd in doing Taichi that would make anyone who knows Taichi cringe. About 10 demonstrators stood in the front and moved their bodies in awkward ways with no sense of proper alignment of qi. The shrill voice said “xi (inhale)” and “hu (exhale)” in a way that felt counter intuitive to me – we inhaled as we bent forward and exhaled as we expanded or reached up – but maybe Taichi breathing is the opposite of yogic breathing. Who knows. Anyhow, after the Taichi-Wushu, the owner waved me next to him and asked me, “Are you happy?” in Burmese to which I responded in Burmese, “Yes. This is very interesting because the voice is speaking Mandarin and I can understand her.” He was surprised by this because he didn’t realize I am Chinese and then asked me if am I from Fujian. I said yes which made him smile and ask me if I can speak Hokkien (aka Minnan, Taiwanese). I said yes which made him smile even more and say, “We are the same people” in Hokkien. The next round of exercises started and the whole time he told other Chinese around him that I am Chinese and can speak Mandarin, Hokkien, English, and Burmese. To which, several people asked me where I am from and smiled at me.
After about 1 hour of very mild exercise and the most un-rhythmic line dancing with everyone going every which way while telling others, “No no no, go left, go right, xie-xie (which sounded at first like thank you in Mandarin but I believe they were trying to say “sachay” (sp?) a French word often used in dance indicating a scooting-like movement)” we all moved onto mats to do what turned out to be a loose rendition of yoga. My host had no idea I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for more than 1 year so he was surprised that I could do everything and everyone around took notice. Well, either, they noticed I could do yoga with ease or they watched me because my host continued to tell everyone I am Chinese and can speak many languages. Anyhow, I was very much on display but it was fine. The exercise teacher, an elderly Chinese man of Xiamen descent kept coming over to adjust me but was a little bit nonplussed by the fact that I could bend or contort as he indicated. Afterall, everyone around me was at least 10 years older (there were only a few other young or younger people) so he shouldn’t have been surprised. The most fun/comical part was when we had to do a back bend. A lady of at least 50 went up to demonstrate. She struggled a little but when she got up into a back bend, everyone clapped. It was very sweet. Then, when another person got up, everyone clapped again. Then, I moved into a back bend and everyone clapped.
I’m running out of time because I have some appointments to see apartments but I think you get the idea. I am having no problem meeting Chinese people and already two have said that the Wang, Lin, and Hu are the same family from Fujian so we are “our people”.
More later!
jayde
posted by Jaydester at
8:10 PM
1 Comments:
I'm so glad people are already looking out for you, Jayde. What a year it will be. But what is this universal phenomenon of people exercising at 5:30 in the morning?? You are a good sport & a true adventurer, Jayde!
By
Libbycookie, at 10:26 AM
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